Barcodes on the Lumia 920 screen can't be scanned by barcode readers?

[agarcia59]

So... Long story short, any store that uses a traditional laser barcode scanner will not be able to read anything off your phone. Any store with an optical scanner, even if it shoots laserbeams from its forehead, will have no problem reading the code from your phone.

Hmm, this can be an interesting conversation. I would imagine that since your eyes can still tell a difference between black & white on the screen, the laser would also be able to tell a difference. Since black & white are just wavelengths themselves, their wavelength shouldn't change when being confined to a phone screen.

I would actually attribute the problem to the orientation of the barcode. If you hold your phone exactly parallel to the barcode and take the image while the camera is exactly parallel to the barcode, I think the barcode should work. This is just my opinion. Please feel free to argue the point. Also, there's probably a "sweet spot" of how wide the barcode should be, for example if you take the image while the phone is 20 feet from the barcode, that image will be too small, & a similar effect for being too near the barcode.

 

[CaptDjob]

No problems in airports with amoled screen N8. Could it be that amoled (when black pixels are really black (leds are off) is easier for scanners to read? Haven't tried Lumia yet.

 

[BeaverJuicer]

Hmm, this can be an interesting conversation. I would imagine that since your eyes can still tell a difference between black & white on the screen, the laser would also be able to tell a difference. Since black & white are just wavelengths themselves, their wavelength shouldn't change when being confined to a phone screen.

Your eyes are attached to a wonderful thing called a brain that can distinguish these things, yes. Traditional barcode scanners don't. If the laser light is bouncing back, it puts out +5V. If it's not, it doesn't. The laser scanner isn't detecting any and all wavelengths, it is looking for that one specific wavelength that it is tuned for. Essentially, that is the only light it sees.

 

[agarcia59]

Your eyes are attached to a wonderful thing called a brain that can distinguish these things, yes. Traditional barcode scanners don't. If the laser light is bouncing back, it puts out +5V. If it's not, it doesn't. The laser scanner isn't detecting any and all wavelengths, it is looking for that one specific wavelength that it is tuned for. Essentially, that is the only light it sees.

I still have trouble accepting that as completely true... So this means that the people whom have said their phone's barcodes work have been lucky enough to use scanners whose technologies are more advanced than the traditional laser scanner?

 

[uselessrobot]

I find it interesting that my old Android phone was much more effective at scanning barcodes than my Lumia 920. I can eventually scan most codes but sometimes it takes the phone a while to get it. I don't know if that's due to the apps themselves or the camera.

 

[BeaverJuicer]

I still have trouble accepting that as completely true... So this means that the people whom have said their phone's barcodes work have been lucky enough to use scanners whose technologies are more advanced than the traditional laser scanner?

That is exactly it. If it can read a 3D QR code, it is an optical scanner using something akin to a camera sensor that sees the whole image. If it is the kind you see at a grocery checkout register, with the lasers going all over the place, it uses a sensor that will detect a light threshold, but does not see anything other than what laser light is being bounced back at it. The laser scanner is far more common still, but have been getting replaces with optical scanners for around 5 years now.

However, in addition to this, there are also multiple different kinds of codes themselves. Not all barcodes are the same, or use the same black and white patterns to signify numbers.

 

[johninsj]

Any luck with airlines?

I fly with e-tickets between san jose and Seattle fairly often, using them. They seem to work fine for me.

 

[jimmy00]

What's your barcode type, linear or 2D? Some barcode readers do not support certain barcode types. I think you may check the compatibility of your barcode scanner. If it do not support your target barcode, you may try another one.

 

[dandrayan]

I've had mixed results with my 920. My local Fry's (Kroger) grocery store has handheld scanners that read my barcodes every time, but the self-checkout scanners don't. My local Toys R Us couldn't scan it, no matter how hard they tried. Best Buy usually types them in by hand without trying to scan, but I've had them successfully scan too.

 

[Racing Snake]

I fly with e-tickets between san jose and Seattle fairly often, using them. They seem to work fine for me.

At Heathrow, the 'staffed' scanners work fine... the self-service scanners (at Heathrow T5) refuse to scan - unfortunately I get to try it out every week! lol

 

[MaxPower203]

Yeah, FidMe has worked once for me out of about 12 tries. I've tried different brightness settings and screen orientations but it doesn't seem to want to work. A true shame.

 

[leonalewis]

What's your barcode type, linear or 2D? Some barcode readers do not support certain barcode types. I think you may check the compatibility of your barcode scanner. If it do not support your target barcode, you may try another one.

i've seen several post which display the problem of camera can not focus on the barcode image , so can not read it , it is this is similar pro?

 

[emark858]

I use the Starbux app at least 5 days a week with no issue. I have also used Key Ring with success a CVS.

 

[Zulfigar]

Laser barcode readers can't read LCD screens (or any phone screen), but light-based readers can read them easily.

 

[Therealeinn]

Resurrecting an old post, but has anyone tried the app "Club Cards" with either CVS or RiteAid and it worked with their 920 at the store? I just downloaded the app and integrated it with Wallet and will be trying it in the next few days at both stores, but I figured I'd ask here first.

I'm curious if CVS or RiteAid have updated their scanners.

 

[scgf]

I'm in the UK and am finding more and more shop scanners successfully scan the on-screen barcodes. Shops seem to be updating their hardware from the old laser scanners to ones which can also read QR codes - it is these scanners which can read from a screen. Usually the shop assistants are very surprised when it works!

 

[gentry33]

I have been using CardStar on my 920 ever since I got it in 12/12. The app works almost 100%, any glitches are attributable to the scanners themselves.

 

[btgusto]

worked fine for me the other day scanning the code from starbucks reader